172 
NA TORE 
[ Dec. 21, 1882 
Brahmaputra ; the Great and Little Irawadi, forming the 
two upper branches of the main Burmese artery, are 
carried through the unexplored Pomi country as far 
as 32° N.; while the Lu-Kiang (Salwen) and Lantsan- 
Kiang (Me-Khong) are both traced still higher to 34° N. 
92° E. within a short distance of the Murui-ussu (Yangtze- 
kiang) valley. Thus the ovasins of five of the great Asiatic 
streams are crowded at one point into a narrow space of 
less than 280 miles, where the several water partings are 
formed merely by a series of lofty ridges following in 
rapid succession between Sechuen and East Assam, 
Such a hydrographic disposition is of course elsewhere 
absolutely unparalleled, and is altogether of such a pheno- 
menal character that it can hardly be finally accepted 
until the main rivers are actually traced to their respective 
sources. 
The jealousy with which the Tibetan frontier is every- 
where guarded Herr Kreitner is disposed to attribute 
rather to the Lhassa than to the Pekin authorities. The 
Chinese government is represented as possessing very 
little practical power in Tibet, which is gradually becoming 
a sort of fee simple of the Sacerdotal class. The Dalai- 
lama himself is a mere puppet in the hands of this priestly 
caste, which has set up no less than 103 living Buddhas 
altogether, and which now embraces two-thirds of the 
population of Tibet, grinding the rest to dust, and living 
in opulence, idleness, and profligacy on the contributions 
of the countless devotees who periodically visit the vast 
monastic establishments overshadowing the land. The 
whole trade of the country is monopolised by the 
llamas, “who buy in the cheapest and sell in the dearest 
market,’’ and whose efforts are steadily directed against 
the intrusion of all foreign competition. These llamas 
are the greatest curse that ever afflicted an ignorant and 
superstitious people, plundering and oppressing them in 
their combined capacity of sorcerers, priests, traders, 
money-lenders, serf-owners, and landed proprietors. 
“*No Tibetan peasant claims as his own the land he tills, 
or the house he builds. All is held at the will of the 
llamas, who eject him whenever he dares to brave their 
displeasure. And in the power, rapacity, and boundless 
authority of these priests must be sought the impassable 
barriers which have hitherto encircled the whole land. 
By them is Tibet closed to the outer world, and by them 
will it long remain hermetically sealed” (p. 855). 
The work is abundantly illustrated by original wood- 
cuts, which, if not always remarkable for artistic merit, 
are at least always to the point. It is also unfortu- 
nately disfigured by several mis-statements and inaccu- 
racies, some of which are quite unaccountable. Thus the 
length of the Suez Canal is given at 80 instead of 100 
English miles. The Wahhabis are brought to the west 
of Mecca, where they have never been seen since their 
overthrow by the Egyptians in 1519. Harakiri and 
other customs, legally abolished since the Revolution 
of 1868, would appear to be still practised in Japan. The 
Shogun is still the “ Tykun,’’ while the Mikado, repre- 
senting the oldest monarchy in the world, is said to have 
sprung “from the Kubo (Shogun) dynasty, founded in 
1603”’! Shintoism is described one place as “a 
Buddhist sect,’’ and in another, although rightly called 
the original national religion, it is v sly said to be now 
mostly superseded by Buddhism an > Confucian moral 
system. The upper course of the Yangtze-Kiang, we are 
told, is called the ‘‘Murui-ussu” by the Tibetans, who 
certainly do not speak Mongolian. The Tibetans them- 
selves are stated to be called “ Si-fan”’ by the Chinese, 
and at p. 831 the extraordinary statement is made that 
Tibet “ist leblos auf Thierwelt,’’ the very opposite being 
notoriously the case. A. H. KEANE 
OUR BOOK SHELF 
Die Insekien nach thren Schaden und Nutzen. 
Dr. E. Taschenberg. Mit 70 Abbildungen. Pp. 1-300, 
8vo. (Leipzig: G. Freytag, 1882.) 
Tuis forms the fourth volume of a German series of 
popular works issued under the title ‘‘Das Wissen der 
Gegenwart.” It consists of an examination of certain 
insects injurious, or otherwise, in field, garden, and 
forest. The author is a man of scientific training, 
and as a specialist has acquired that practice of 
accuracy of statement that necessarily results from the 
education of a specialist. Much of the contents will 
prove useful to Englishmen who can read German; a 
portion, however, concerns insects that happily do not 
occur with us. The figures are mostly very good, many 
are excellent, a few are indifferent. We recognise most 
of them as reproductions, or reductions, from varied 
sources. The ‘‘Colorado Beetle” is introduced, and 
appears somewhat strangely out of place in a work that 
almost exclusively concerns German insects. Possibly 
the opportunity for indulging in a little satire (p. 124) 
may form sufficient excuse, But the author aims his 
satire at the wrong butt. He alludes to newspaper 
reports as to Colorado beetles having been sent over by 
Irish Americans, in order to spite “ Englanders,’”’ but 
omits to suggest that the “scare” existed long before 
these newspaper reports. 
Outin the Open. A Budget of Scraps of Natural History 
gathered in New Zealand. By T. H. Potts, F.L.S. 
(Christ Church, 1882.) 
Tuis little volume contains a reprint of a number of in- 
teresting papers contributed by the author from time to 
time to the Mew Zealand Country Fournal. These 
chiefly relate-to the ferns and birds of the country, but 
comprise also an account of a visit in 1878 to Hikurangi, 
where the Maoris were seen at home. In another paper 
a good account of the Kia (Nester notabilis) is given. 
It would seem that it does not do much damage to the 
flocks of sheep except during periods of severe snow, 
when the parrots are deprived of their usual food. The 
work is evidently the result of a good deal of intelligent 
observation carried on over a number of years. 
Von Prof. 
Catalogue of Mammalia in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. 
By John Anderson, M.D., F.R.S. Part I. (Calcutta: 
printed by order of the Trustees, 1881.) 
THIS part contains the Primates, Prosimidz, Chiroptera, 
and Insectivora of the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Till 
1865 this Museum was the property of the Asiatic Society 
of Bengal, and a catalogue of the mammalia therein was 
drawn up in 1863 by the late Edward Blyth, so well 
known to all Indian naturalists of that period. The col- 
lection has increased enormously since, from in 1863 150 
species of the four orders catalogued by Dr. Anderson to 
252 at present existing in the Museum of these same 
orders. Extensive and important details are given about 
many of the more remarkable species, especially the 
Primates. The synonimic lists seem well worked out, 
and this part will have a value for the working naturalists 
far beyond that of a mere catalogue. We trust the second 
part will soon be published, and we congratulate the 
Trustees on the excellent work done by their superin- 
tendent. 
